They are targeting a 12- to 15-foot depth for the lake, because, Goetz explained, fish need a minimum of 12 feet to overwinter. Goetz’s colleague, Brian Hinrichs, said if it turns out to be bedrock, they have access to an excavating tool that has already proven it can chew through bedrock in a project at Detroit Harbor on Washington Island.

One of the unknowns of the project is that below the layer of debris and native sand there is 50,000 cubic yards of either native glacial till or bedrock. Some of that sediment will be high in nutrients, so could be marketed for sale or trade. She said the estimated $400,000 disposal fee would be waived by the utility. She said due to the nature of debris and sediment at the bottom of Little Lake, it was decided that if the project were to go forward, they would use a mechanical excavator rather than a hydraulic dredge.Ī canal would be created so dredged material could be transported by water-tight barge and taken to a confined disposal facility owned by Sturgeon Bay Utilities.

These comments came after Staci Goetz, project manager with Foth Infrastructure & Environment in Green Bay, presented an initial plan for the dredging project. “I need to see some other improvements done,” Vandertie agreed, suggesting the city first take care of its beaten up roadways and then consider fixing Little Lake. “I can think of other places I’d put this money.” “I just don’t feel like I understand what the costs are,” Ward told the committee, adding that uncertainties in the project lead to the probability of cost creep. “Hope is not a good financial plan,” said Alderman David Ward, who, along with Alderman Ron Vandertie, voted against budgeting the money for the dredging project. 9, the Sturgeon Bay Common Council voted 5-2 to include $3.5 million in the budget to dredge Little Lake with the hope that grants will replace a good portion of taxpayer money.

At a meeting of the Committee of the Whole on Oct.

Budget benefit 2018 dredging